A transactional model of Parenting Practices and Children's Aggressive behavior in Neighborhood Context

Abstract

This study combined three perspectives (i.e., the developmental-ecological, the transactional model, and the developmental psychopathological perspective) by examining transactional relationships between parenting practices and children's aggressive behavior within neighborhood context. An assessment of students' neighborhood mobility was conducted by examining changes in residential address. Path analysis was used to examine direct and transactional effects. ^ The study employed four waves of parent- and teacher-reported data from the first two years of a prospective, three-year, school-randomized evaluation of the 4Rs (Reading. Writing, Respect, and Resolution) social-emotional learning and literacy intervention, which took place from 2004-2007 in 18 NYC public elementary schools Positive Parenting was measured using the APQ: Restrictive Parenting was measured using the Child Rearing Practices Report; Aggressive Behavior was measured using the BASC; objective neighborhood characteristics were measured using a Neighborhood Disadvantage composite subjective neighborhood characteristics were measured using Child-Centered Social Control. ^ Two-thirds of students remained at the same residential address from waves 1–4, while approximately 20% of students moved once. Seven direct effects of neighborhood characteristics were found. Specifically, Child-Centered Social Control was significantly associated with Positive Parenting at waves 1 and 3, and Neighborhood Disadvantage was significantly associated with Restrictive Parenting at waves 2 and 4 and with Aggressive Behavior at waves 1, 2, and 3. Positive Parenting, Restrictive Parenting, and Aggressive Behavior were best characterized as predicting themselves at adjacent time points, rather than as unidirectional or transactional. ^ A series of models examined the transactional relationships between parenting practices (Positive and Restrictive) and children's Aggressive Behavior as moderated by objective (census-rated Neighborhood Disadvantage) and subjective (parent-reported Child-Centered Social Control) neighborhood characteristics. Neither objective nor subjective neighborhood characteristics moderated the relationship between parenting practices and children's Aggressive Behavior. ^